Richard Leis
@richardleis.com
Poet. Writer. Martian. (he/him)
richardleis.com
uahirise.org
My latest poem "Los Fantasmas en Su Boca" arrives December 16 in "Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane." Pre-orders available now.
richardleis.com
uahirise.org
My latest poem "Los Fantasmas en Su Boca" arrives December 16 in "Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane." Pre-orders available now.
Pinned
Richard Leis
@richardleis.com
· Dec 6
"Los Fantasmas en Su Boca," a poem about my great-grandmother protecting me from ghosts, arrives December 16 in "Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane" from @brigidsgatepress.bsky.social. Edited by Wendy Dalrymple and Grace R. Reynolds, the anthology can be pre-ordered now.
Reposted by Richard Leis
Partner took the kids to a movie, and I finished the final copyedits on CRONE. The book is done. Sent in. Hardest one to write, most personal, most furious, most vulnerable.
Dedicated to Jennifer Esson and Kara Leas, who should have made it home on that January night in 1995 and never did.
Dedicated to Jennifer Esson and Kara Leas, who should have made it home on that January night in 1995 and never did.
January 18, 2026 at 4:40 AM
Partner took the kids to a movie, and I finished the final copyedits on CRONE. The book is done. Sent in. Hardest one to write, most personal, most furious, most vulnerable.
Dedicated to Jennifer Esson and Kara Leas, who should have made it home on that January night in 1995 and never did.
Dedicated to Jennifer Esson and Kara Leas, who should have made it home on that January night in 1995 and never did.
Reposted by Richard Leis
Just finished Fever House by @keithrosson.bsky.social , and now I'm itching to read the sequel. Bloody, beautiful language, and great fun to read. Thanks, @richardleis.com for the recommendation!
January 18, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Just finished Fever House by @keithrosson.bsky.social , and now I'm itching to read the sequel. Bloody, beautiful language, and great fun to read. Thanks, @richardleis.com for the recommendation!
I'm giving writing a poem a day for a year a go. I wrote poem number 1 today. The voice in the poem is a psychic answering why they bother predicting at all.
staffordchallenge.com
staffordchallenge.com
The Stafford Challenge
Join a community of poets and make your commitment to writing a poem a day for a year.
staffordchallenge.com
January 17, 2026 at 8:08 PM
I'm giving writing a poem a day for a year a go. I wrote poem number 1 today. The voice in the poem is a psychic answering why they bother predicting at all.
staffordchallenge.com
staffordchallenge.com
Reposted by Richard Leis
2026 is going to be a busy year full of poetry!
February 17th - anOther Nemesis (Meerkat Press) @meerkatpress.bsky.social
April 7th - Neurotica: Poems (Shortwave Publishing) @shortwavebooks.bsky.social
Election Day 2026 - I Was A Teenage Anti-Fascist (Bad Hand Books) @badhandbooks.bsky.social
February 17th - anOther Nemesis (Meerkat Press) @meerkatpress.bsky.social
April 7th - Neurotica: Poems (Shortwave Publishing) @shortwavebooks.bsky.social
Election Day 2026 - I Was A Teenage Anti-Fascist (Bad Hand Books) @badhandbooks.bsky.social
January 17, 2026 at 3:38 AM
2026 is going to be a busy year full of poetry!
February 17th - anOther Nemesis (Meerkat Press) @meerkatpress.bsky.social
April 7th - Neurotica: Poems (Shortwave Publishing) @shortwavebooks.bsky.social
Election Day 2026 - I Was A Teenage Anti-Fascist (Bad Hand Books) @badhandbooks.bsky.social
February 17th - anOther Nemesis (Meerkat Press) @meerkatpress.bsky.social
April 7th - Neurotica: Poems (Shortwave Publishing) @shortwavebooks.bsky.social
Election Day 2026 - I Was A Teenage Anti-Fascist (Bad Hand Books) @badhandbooks.bsky.social
Must-read new horror flash fiction from Kelsea Yu: www.patreon.com/posts/flash-...
You're not ready...
You're not ready...
FLASH FICTION FRIDAY: Swollen by Kelsea Yu | Sadie (Mother Horror)
Get more from Sadie (Mother Horror) on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Must-read new horror flash fiction from Kelsea Yu: www.patreon.com/posts/flash-...
You're not ready...
You're not ready...
Reposted by Richard Leis
..very grateful to Beloit Poetry Journal for giving a home to "The Little Man," a poem for Zeus, who is no longer with us, yet who will be with us forever, and who channelled this work with his sweet & gentle soul...
...from "The Morphologist," which is forthcoming from @milkweed_books in 2027 ❤️
...from "The Morphologist," which is forthcoming from @milkweed_books in 2027 ❤️
October 25, 2025 at 5:34 PM
..very grateful to Beloit Poetry Journal for giving a home to "The Little Man," a poem for Zeus, who is no longer with us, yet who will be with us forever, and who channelled this work with his sweet & gentle soul...
...from "The Morphologist," which is forthcoming from @milkweed_books in 2027 ❤️
...from "The Morphologist," which is forthcoming from @milkweed_books in 2027 ❤️
Reposted by Richard Leis
Thrilled and honored to have my painting--At The Rest Stop--on the cover of the Beloit Poetry Journal.
October 28, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Thrilled and honored to have my painting--At The Rest Stop--on the cover of the Beloit Poetry Journal.
Reposted by Richard Leis
"My imagination was particularly captured by Skittering Within, by Kelsea Yu, where a young girl grows up with an extraordinary affinity with crabs"
Thank you to Dr. Alice Violett for mentioning my story in this thoughtful review of the ECO24 anthology! 🦀🖤
Thank you to Dr. Alice Violett for mentioning my story in this thoughtful review of the ECO24 anthology! 🦀🖤
Lovely review for "ECO24: The Year's Best Speculative Ecoficton" 💚💚💚
"The most effective stories, for me, came under the theme of social commentary on novel solutions to environmental decline. These stories ask: who bears the brunt of these innovations, and who gets to carry on as before?"
"The most effective stories, for me, came under the theme of social commentary on novel solutions to environmental decline. These stories ask: who bears the brunt of these innovations, and who gets to carry on as before?"
"ECO24 is a moving and thought-provoking collection featuring some of my favourite themes in speculative fiction." 🌱🌍
Wonderful review from Dr. Alice Violett for ECO24: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction!
Read it here: www.draliceviolett.com/eco24-edited...
Wonderful review from Dr. Alice Violett for ECO24: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction!
Read it here: www.draliceviolett.com/eco24-edited...
January 6, 2026 at 11:02 PM
"My imagination was particularly captured by Skittering Within, by Kelsea Yu, where a young girl grows up with an extraordinary affinity with crabs"
Thank you to Dr. Alice Violett for mentioning my story in this thoughtful review of the ECO24 anthology! 🦀🖤
Thank you to Dr. Alice Violett for mentioning my story in this thoughtful review of the ECO24 anthology! 🦀🖤
Reposted by Richard Leis
Celebrate your rejections!
The Rejection Competition is a fun way to reframe rejections started by Reneé Bibby. Janelle Drumwright wrote a great article and interviewed Reneé and several participants about the Rejection Competition:
janelledrumwright.substack.com/p/turn-your-...
The Rejection Competition is a fun way to reframe rejections started by Reneé Bibby. Janelle Drumwright wrote a great article and interviewed Reneé and several participants about the Rejection Competition:
janelledrumwright.substack.com/p/turn-your-...
Turn Your Lit Mag Rejections into ‘Wins’ This Year
How Reneé Bibby’s “Rejection Competition” Takes Away the Sting
janelledrumwright.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Celebrate your rejections!
The Rejection Competition is a fun way to reframe rejections started by Reneé Bibby. Janelle Drumwright wrote a great article and interviewed Reneé and several participants about the Rejection Competition:
janelledrumwright.substack.com/p/turn-your-...
The Rejection Competition is a fun way to reframe rejections started by Reneé Bibby. Janelle Drumwright wrote a great article and interviewed Reneé and several participants about the Rejection Competition:
janelledrumwright.substack.com/p/turn-your-...
I'll be reading at the event at the end of the month, along with several other horror writers. It has been a rainy, mild winter so far; maybe our words can conjure up some snow for February. ❄️☃️
We have several events scheduled in January 2026, including our chapter meeting, book club, and a cold-themed reading at Beaverton City Library at the end of the month:
oregonhorror.com/news/coming-...
oregonhorror.com/news/coming-...
Coming Up: January 2026 Events & Meetings – HWA Oregon
oregonhorror.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:51 AM
I'll be reading at the event at the end of the month, along with several other horror writers. It has been a rainy, mild winter so far; maybe our words can conjure up some snow for February. ❄️☃️
Reposted by Richard Leis
I'm starting 2026 with my first publication of the year! My poem about the death of David Bowie, "heroes," is in Not of One Us #85. (Coincidentally, this month is the 10th anniversary of Bowie's death.) The issue also includes work by Sonya Taaffe, Jennifer Crow, Devan Barlow, and more.
January 2, 2026 at 8:15 PM
I'm starting 2026 with my first publication of the year! My poem about the death of David Bowie, "heroes," is in Not of One Us #85. (Coincidentally, this month is the 10th anniversary of Bowie's death.) The issue also includes work by Sonya Taaffe, Jennifer Crow, Devan Barlow, and more.
Reposted by Richard Leis
I thought the Iraq War was a real low point in America imperialism it it turns out we hadn’t seen nothing yet
January 4, 2026 at 1:01 AM
I thought the Iraq War was a real low point in America imperialism it it turns out we hadn’t seen nothing yet
Reposted by Richard Leis
This is an illegal intervention in a country that poses no threat to the United States. Trump is trying to distract from the fact that he tanked our economy and kicked millions off their health care. Congressional Republicans need to rein Trump in before he gets American troops killed.
Trump says U.S. will 'run' Venezuela and sell seized oil in remarks on the strikes
President Trump says the United States conducted a strike in Venezuela and captured that country's president, Nicolás Maduro along with his wife, Cilia Flores.
www.npr.org
January 3, 2026 at 8:25 PM
This is an illegal intervention in a country that poses no threat to the United States. Trump is trying to distract from the fact that he tanked our economy and kicked millions off their health care. Congressional Republicans need to rein Trump in before he gets American troops killed.
Reposted by Richard Leis
All 11 songs my friends and I recorded are online now as a 22-minute album. If you try it and hate it, at least it’ll be over with quickly.
January 1, 2026 at 7:48 PM
All 11 songs my friends and I recorded are online now as a 22-minute album. If you try it and hate it, at least it’ll be over with quickly.
Reposted by Richard Leis
My thoughts on the current discussions in the SF/F genre over writers using generative AI (LLMs). In particular, I love the essays shared by @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @fozmeadows.bsky.social. 1/
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
Genre Grapevine on Two Secrets about LLM Usage Every Writer Must Remember | Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine
Get more from Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
My thoughts on the current discussions in the SF/F genre over writers using generative AI (LLMs). In particular, I love the essays shared by @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @fozmeadows.bsky.social. 1/
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
Reposted by Richard Leis
2025 was the year I started reading new stuff again. Thanks, existential dread!
The Works of Vermin - weird, wonderful, more than a little slimy. @richardleis.com , you might like this one!
The Locked Tomb - my impression of these books was very, very wrong. Which made them SO MUCH FUN!
The Works of Vermin - weird, wonderful, more than a little slimy. @richardleis.com , you might like this one!
The Locked Tomb - my impression of these books was very, very wrong. Which made them SO MUCH FUN!
December 31, 2025 at 10:14 PM
2025 was the year I started reading new stuff again. Thanks, existential dread!
The Works of Vermin - weird, wonderful, more than a little slimy. @richardleis.com , you might like this one!
The Locked Tomb - my impression of these books was very, very wrong. Which made them SO MUCH FUN!
The Works of Vermin - weird, wonderful, more than a little slimy. @richardleis.com , you might like this one!
The Locked Tomb - my impression of these books was very, very wrong. Which made them SO MUCH FUN!
Reposted by Richard Leis
Specpoverse
Join us in our mission to create a multicultural vision of speculative poetry.
specpoverse.org
December 31, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Reposted by Richard Leis
This was one of the most interesting New Yorker articles of the year...
newyorkermag.visitlink.me/rT56lu
newyorkermag.visitlink.me/rT56lu
Some People Can’t See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound
Research has linked the ability to visualize to a bewildering variety of human traits—how we experience trauma, hold grudges, and, above all, remember our lives.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
December 29, 2025 at 10:18 PM
This was one of the most interesting New Yorker articles of the year...
newyorkermag.visitlink.me/rT56lu
newyorkermag.visitlink.me/rT56lu
Reposted by Richard Leis
LPL grad student Kayla Smith and I submitted our first paper together today on brown dwarf habitable zones. The literature on this topic is surprisingly thin and no one has really done it right yet. We move the ball forward and look forward to sharing more in the future.
December 29, 2025 at 11:11 PM
LPL grad student Kayla Smith and I submitted our first paper together today on brown dwarf habitable zones. The literature on this topic is surprisingly thin and no one has really done it right yet. We move the ball forward and look forward to sharing more in the future.
Reposted by Richard Leis
Any writer who thinks their cover is "nonessential" is in for a very rude awakening when they try to sell their book to readers. At point of sale, I would argue the cover is the most essential element, next to a great blurb/description.
Writers who advocate using genAI for covers and "nonessential" tasks are fuckin' traitors and not to be listened to.
December 28, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Any writer who thinks their cover is "nonessential" is in for a very rude awakening when they try to sell their book to readers. At point of sale, I would argue the cover is the most essential element, next to a great blurb/description.
Reposted by Richard Leis
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
My Open Letter To That Open Letter About AI In Writing And Publishing
The tl;dr before you get into this post is this: the SFWA came out, said that some AI usage was okay enough in books for the authors of those books to not to be disqualified from winning a Nebula a…
terribleminds.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Reposted by Richard Leis
#poetry. My poem "To Skeptics," first published in F&SF in 2019, has been reprinted in Solstitia :-)
For the curious
- written 12/2017
- accepted by F&SF in 3/2019, published there in 7/2019
- nominated for the Rhysling Award
- accepted by Solstitia in 12/2025
- has both dragons and cats!
🐉🐈✏️
For the curious
- written 12/2017
- accepted by F&SF in 3/2019, published there in 7/2019
- nominated for the Rhysling Award
- accepted by Solstitia in 12/2025
- has both dragons and cats!
🐉🐈✏️
December 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
#poetry. My poem "To Skeptics," first published in F&SF in 2019, has been reprinted in Solstitia :-)
For the curious
- written 12/2017
- accepted by F&SF in 3/2019, published there in 7/2019
- nominated for the Rhysling Award
- accepted by Solstitia in 12/2025
- has both dragons and cats!
🐉🐈✏️
For the curious
- written 12/2017
- accepted by F&SF in 3/2019, published there in 7/2019
- nominated for the Rhysling Award
- accepted by Solstitia in 12/2025
- has both dragons and cats!
🐉🐈✏️
Reposted by Richard Leis
Tonight's story comes to us from Mala Jay Suess about the "can't lose" opportunities friends and family may share with you this holiday season...
#Yule2025 #KingInYellow
#Yule2025 #KingInYellow
Yule 2025: "Yell-O" by Mala Jay Suess
Heed this cautionary tale from Mala Jay Seuss about "can't lose" opportunities you may be presented with over the holiday season.
weirdfictionquarterly.com
December 23, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Tonight's story comes to us from Mala Jay Suess about the "can't lose" opportunities friends and family may share with you this holiday season...
#Yule2025 #KingInYellow
#Yule2025 #KingInYellow